Legal Talk Network interviewed panelists from the Combating the Criminalization of Homelessness program at the 2015 Annual Meeting. They spoke about homelessness, Homeless Courts, and the role of young lawyers. You can listen to the fullinterview here.

This session featured information on the American Bar Association’s resolution on the human right to food and guidance on implementing the human rights framework to enhance local and statewide policy advocacy efforts. Immediate past Commission Chair, Antonia Fasanelli (Executive Director of the Homeless Persons Representation Project in MD), presented along with former Commission member Robin Runge (George Washington University Law School). Commission member Jeremy Rosen (National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty) assisted with developing the session. View Program Materials from the Session

Martha Bergmark, Director of Voices for Civil Justice and Member of the Commission on Homelessness and Poverty gave opening remarks at the recent War on Poverty Program, which featured Sister Simone Campbell, Professor Anthony Cook, Professor Peter Edelman, and Johnathan Smith. The program was moderated by Thomas Susman.

Watch the program video below.

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Join us to celebrate 30 years of homeless courts and to chart the course for the next 30 years and beyond!

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The Division for Public Services honors the accomplishments of ABA lawyers associated with our Division committees and commissions who are dedicating their time and energy to the public interest. We are pleased to introducePAUL FREESE, Special Advisor on Homeless Veterans to the ABA Commission on Homelessness and Poverty and Co-chair of the ABA Coordinating Committee on Veterans Benefits and Services.

As a 501(c)(3) charitable fund, all contributions to the FJE are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law.

If you are interested in the work of the Commission on Homelessness and Poverty and would like to become involved in the American Bar Association, click here to join today.

Lawyers working in government or legal/public service not-for-profit organizations engaged primarily in legal- or policy-based advocacy for low income persons qualify for reduced dues as members of the American Bar Association. Find out more.

A resident at One80 homeless shelter in Charleston, South Carolina approached the legal team to request help resolving a shoplifting charge in Columbia. While there is currently no Homeless Court in Charleston, South Carolina, the legal team at One80 Place, which is working hard to establish one, approached the Homeless Court in Columbia, South Carolina.

The resident had been charged with shoplifting in Columbia. In November 2015 she moved to Charleston and to One80 Place to get a new start. While at One80 Place she restarted her mental health treatment, attended substance use classes, applied for disability benefits, and worked with her case manager to find housing. However, she still had the shoplifting charge, which by this point had become a bench warrant for failure to appear in court, hanging over her.

The legal team at One80 Place contacted the attorneys at the Nelson Mullins Law Firm in Columbia who were instrumental in starting the Homeless Court there. They contacted the assistant solicitor who agreed to consider the resident for participation in the Homeless Court. The legal team submitted a Homeless Court application and the resident was accepted.

On June 28, 2016 the One80 Place legal team drove the resident to Columbia for her appearance at the Homeless Court. A member of the team testified for the resident confirming that since November the resident had continued with her mental health treatment, maintained her sobriety, successfully moved into a mobile home, and was slated to receive her first disability check. After hearing what the resident had accomplished, Judge Dana Turner dismissed both the warrant and shoplifting charge.

Observing firsthand the Columbia Homeless Court process and how it worked to give the resident credit for all that she had accomplished, has strengthened the resolve of the One80 Place legal team to continue their efforts to create a Homeless Court in Charleston.